We grew up learning about fairness, justice and manners.
If you start a fight, you don’t have an older sibling finish it. You save the last malasada in the box for somebody else. You don’t cheat at solitaire.
Sports also was to exemplify justice for all. You can’t crack the long-snapper. You don’t steal with a seven-run lead. No dunking when the clock is winding down in a four-possession game (except if the losing coach keeps ordering fouls in the final 10 seconds).
Fairness meant the team trailing by three touchdowns in the Hula Bowl got the ball back after scoring, an all-star game’s version of make it, take it. Fairness meant imposing trade restrictions on No. 1 draft picks and complicating the salary caps so not every superstar could find his way onto the Lakers or LeBron’s team or LeBron’s Lakers. Fairness meant a ref’s “make-up” call or a missed free throw after a questionable foul. The basketball, as karma notes, does not lie.
But it appears not everything is fair game in sports. It’s not about age-old tactics such as a stretch-four’s flop, a middle blocker’s spirit-fingers wave to indicate a no-touch deflection, or a defensive lineman reciting the left guard’s mother’s dating history to induce a false start.
College football has lost its way when members declare themselves as “power” schools, hog the pot, and then conduct secret meetings to form mergers with the intent of deepening their wealth. At some point, the major television networks — not you, NBC — should get together, shed the pretense and create conferences, schedules and a playoff system. It’s been too long since anyone believed all Division I teams are equal.
It’s not fair the University of Hawaii football team has to play its home games in a 9,000-seat because there is not enough money to expand. In December 2020, the Warriors were forced to house-hunt when Aloha Stadium was self-condemned for spectator events because of safety concerns with the Halawa facility. UH diverted funds from here and there to retrofit the Ching Complex into a workable site for the 2021 season. But this past legislative session, lawmakers generously granted millions for capital-improvement projects at UH — only zippo was earmarked to expand Ching. Where’s the fairness?
The search continues for appropriate justice involving Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson. An arbiter recommended a six-game suspension for Watson, who was accused of sexual misconduct involving more than 20 massage therapists. The NFL appealed, seeking a full-season suspension. Watson has issued what amounted to a sorry-you’re-hurt apology. Perhaps an apt punishment would be for 12 games — stretched over three years. Sitting out the first four games of the next three seasons would be a reminder that some issues should not go away easily. And if we are to believe he sought massages for therapeutic purposes, perhaps he should be required to make donations to develop and hire athletic trainers for public-school teams.
Then there is shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr.’s 80-game suspension for using a banned performance-enhancing substance. I’m conflicted because I’m not sure how PEDs help a batter hit a curveball or 95 mph slider. And aren’t batting gloves, rosin, glasses and ice packs performance-enhancing material? I think Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are deserving of Hall of Fame membership. The case against Bonds is an enlarged head. Should that have excluded Peyton Manning from consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
But if rules are rules, here are two considerations to deter PED use for baseball players. If you test positive for PEDs, you should be automatically disqualified from Hall of Fame consideration. Also, fans should be entitled to a partial refund — one-25th of a ticket’s price — for every home game in which the player played during the season he tested positive. Refunds would be a fair motivation for teams to ensure players are educated on the consequences of using PEDs.
Fair should be fair, especially in sports.